ENGLAND'S players will head out to Turkey today for their Euro 2004 showdown - but only after launching a blistering attack on their bosses.

ENGLAND'S players will head out to Turkey today for their Euro 2004 showdown - but only after launching a blistering attack on their bosses.

The 24-man squad were united in their condemnation of the Football Association in the row over Rio Ferdinand's exclusion from the party after he failed to turn up for a routine drugs test.

The players - who 24 hours earlier were talking about boycotting the game in Istanbul in protest - last night announced they will be travelling today.

But they said the FA had "failed us badly" as Ferdinand's exclusion over-shadowed preparations for their final group qualifier on Saturday.

Talks went on throughout yesterday as UEFA warned England would be kicked out of the competition if they failed to fulfil the fixture.

FA bosses met with the 'players' committee' - including Liverpool's Michael Owen - to try and head off their strike threat. But in agreeing to travel, Sven-Goran Eriksson's men warned they had been badly let down.

Last night's statement said: "Over the past two years since the appoint-ment of Sven-Goran Eriksson, the England football team have talked consistently of showing togetherness and having a fantastic team spirit within our camp.

"We feel that, this week, the whole of our squad have shown that togetherness and spirit to be as strong as ever in the best possible way. It is our opinion that the organisation we represent has not only let down one of our teammates, but the whole of the England squad and its manager. We feel that they have failed us very badly.

"One of our team-mates was penalised without being given the rights he is entitled to and without any charges being brought against him by the governing body of the game."

The players argued that the decision to leave Ferdinand had left the team "weaker" and went against the wishes of both the manager and his squad.

"Rio Ferdinand was entitled to confidentiality and a 'fair' hearing in front of an independent commission," continued the statement.

"We believe the people responsible for making the decision did not give Rio Ferdinand that due process and that has disrupted and made the team weaker against the wishes of the manager and the players.

"All the England players are proud to wear the England shirt and would never let England, Sven-Goran Eriksson or our magnificent fans down.

"The events of the last few days have not been easy to deal with, when you consider the lack of protection that our team-mate was given once this decision had been made.

"We apologise to our manager, staff and fans for any concerns that may have arisen over the past few days."

The players added that success in Turkey, where England need only a draw to qualify for next year's finals in Portugal, was now their number one priority.

"In our minds, there has never been any question as to whether we would play in this game," added their state-ment. "We will continue our preparations for Saturday's game.

"We are fully focused and the only thing that matters to the whole of the England squad and manager is that we qualify."